Oil-rig bull-rope tripper



E. WALTERS.

OIL RIG BULL ROPE TRIPPEB. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1a. 1920.

1,4-.OO,1 1 1 Patented 13, 1921.

2 swam-sum 1.

0 Q Q Q o" X 2'2 20 \QssxQxQSI: 12

"" V i 7 Q@ L m Y 7:35 3 iH||||T 1 gwmmtoz ELM/S)? WALTERS I armmq E. WALTERS.

OIL RIG BULL ROPE TRIPPER. APPLICATIONYFILED AUG-I8, 1920.

1 400 1 1 Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- o" I 7 12 I E E ME WHLTEHS ELMER WALTERS, OF ELDORADO, KANSAS.

OIL-RIG BULL-ROPE TRIPIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

i Application filed August 18, 1920. Serial No. 404,485.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER WALTERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Eldorado, in the county of Butler and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Oil-Rig Bull-Rope Tripper, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its purpose to provide an improved means for tripping or shifting the bull ropes on oil rigs, in a simple and efi'ective manner and the parts thereof are especially designed whereby they will shift'over one of the two large bull ropes on the standard oil rig and the other of such ropes outof position, so that the saidone bull rope may be readily thrown 01f direct and by which the said operations are effected while the bull wheel is going forward.

My invention comprehends a means or appliance for the purposes stated, that embodies the peculiar features of construction and novel arrangement of parts that will be fully explained in the following detailed description, specifically pointed out in the appended claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my rope trip, so much of an oil rig bull wheel being shown necessary to illustrate the practical application of my invention, the trip being at the rest or normal position and both ropes in running condition on the bull wheel.

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1, the trip being shown adjusted as having tripped or shifted the off side rope from the wheel and the near side rope transferred over to the oft" side groove of the wheel ready for being thrown off direct.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my construction of rope trip, partly in section.

Fig. 1 is a detail sectional view of the front or contacting end of the trip hereinafter further referred to.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the support on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

In the practical development of my invention, I provide a rope tripping appliance constructed in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 1 of the drawings, by reference to which it will be noticed the trip mechanism or appliance comprises a relatively long bottom member 1 that constitutes a lever arm.

The member 1, as also the other parts that constitute my bull rope tripper, are of metal and are secured together by bolt and nut connections presently further referred to. i

The tripper, when set up for use, is positioned adjacent the bull wheel as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which show that the body of the tripper includes a vertically disposed spreader iron 2, the upper and lower ends of which terminate in angled brackets 20 and 21, the lower one 20 of which is secured by the clamp bolt and nut 3 to the forward end of the bottom member 1 and the other or upper one 21 of the said brackets is likewise bolted to the under side of a top bar 4,-which bar extends rearwardly some distance beyond the bracket member 21 and merges into a downwardly and rearwardly inclined brace 5, which is strengthened by a spreader block 7 that is secured to the brace 5 by the bolt and nut connections 6.

The lower end of the spreader block 7 passes through an aperture 10 in the member 1 and the said lower end terminates in a stepped journal bearing 8 that seats in a floor block 9 suitably secured to the floor adjacent the bull wheel and upon which the tripper appliance is adapted for being swung around in the horizontal plane, in the manner and for the purpose presently explained.

The forward end of the top bar 4 and the bottom bar 1 extend beyond the spreader iron 2 and constitute upper and lower bearings 22-23 for the upper and lower journals 11 of a vertically disposed shifting roller 12 and to facilitate rotation of the said roller 12, as it engages with the bull rope, ball bearings 13 are interposed between the opposite ends of the roller and the upper and lower bearings 2223, as is clearly shown in Fig. 4.

In practice, the bottom member or lever arm 1 is of a length to position a handle 14 (preferably of gas pipe) that is attached to the outer end of the lever 1, a sufiicient distance from the bull wheel to provide for shifting the tripper without danger to the operator and also to extend the handle within convenient reach of the man at the break, so that he can reach the handle without walking across the tripper, the long gas pipe handle being also necessary as the tripping appliance is located as near the bull wheel as possible without interfering with its operation.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings, the complete construction, the manner of its operation and the advantages of my invention will be readily apparent to those familiar with the construction and operation of the standard types of oil well rigs.

The floor block, in practice, is about six or more inches square and the tripper frame is so journaled thereon that it may be readily moved back and forth, in the horizontal plane, by grasping the long gas pipe handle 14.

The roller 12, in practice, is about twelve inches long so that it is bound to contact with the bull rope near the bottom of the bull wheel, when swung in the direction thereof. r a

- ll hen swung inwardly toward the wheel, the roller engages the rope m at the adjacent side of the wheel and throws it out of its groove over to the other rope, y, which is then pushed off the wheel by the first rope w, as a" is moved laterally, when the roller 12 swings it-over, and since the rope on the outside is thrown entirely off the wheel andthe near side rope is left in the off side groove of the-wheel, the said near side rope may be thrown direct from the wheel in the usual way.

What I claim is:

A rope trip for shifting ropeson bull wheels .of oil well rigs comprising a bottom bar, a top bar, a diagonal brace bar that extends rearwardlyand form a part of the top bar and the bottom bar, as spreader block interposed between the brace portion and the base of the vtripp-er, thesaid spreader block extending throng-lithe base member and terminating in a central bearing for the tripper, a base block into which thesaid bearing is received, a spreader iron that joins the outer ends of the top and base portionsvof thetripper, a roller bearing mounted vertically between the said top and base portions and a handle receivingmember extended from the rear end of the base bar, all being arranged Substantially as shown and described. 7 r

' ELMEB WALTERS. 1 

